South Carolina House OKs drunken driving bill

South
Carolina is nearing passage of a bill that would lower the legal
blood-alcohol limit for drunken driving convictions from 0.10 percent
to 0.08, The State newspaper reported.

H3231 passed the House of Representatives March 19 by a whopping
106-to-6 vote.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. JoAnne Gilham, R-Hilton Head Island,
allows police to set up roadblocks to look for drunken drivers.
It also makes it easier to prosecute DUI cases.

The Palmetto State is under a federal mandate to toughen its drunken
driving penalties or lose millions in highway funds, according to
the newspaper. South Carolina has already lost $1.8 million in incentives
and could lose $60 million more unless it lowers the limit to 0.08.